


the scariest thing in a haunted house

by lunarshores (damichan)



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, Haunted Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 11:26:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12910947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damichan/pseuds/lunarshores
Summary: for the prompt: Damian & Dick - “I need someone to cling to in the haunted house, and you’re it.”





	the scariest thing in a haunted house

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ImaKaraTabiHe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/gifts).



> Sorry this was so late!

“Grayson, I don’t see the purpose of entering a dimly lit so-called  _ house  _ so that ineffectual children can leap out and make ill founded attempts to frighten me.” Damian tilted his head and pursed his mouth ever so slightly. “I am in fact more likely to frighten them.”

“I thought that was the point of haunted houses,” Jason said. Dick ignored him.

“C’mon Dami, it will be fun! Besides, I need someone to cling too in the haunted house, and you’re it!”

“Choose one of these lesser brothers to cling to.”

Dick tsked and narrowed his eyes at Jason and Tim, who looked not nearly as sorry for their transgressions as they should. “Not nearly. Once was quite enough with Jason, and trust me, you don’t  _ ever _ want to take Tim with you in a haunted house. The police were called. There were fires.  _ Batman _ showed up. There might have been a hostage situation.”

Damian looked unsurprised but there was a gleam to his eyes that mean he was impressed. Dick’s grin widened.

“It was hardly  _ my  _ fault,” Tim said. “The kidnappers shouldn’t have picked a time when I was so jumpy.”

“Maybe I should go with you,” Jason said “Those are my people in there.” He eyed the haunted house with a look on his face that Dick did not like at all.

“No,” Cass said, slipping out from nowhere, and grabbed Jason by the elbow before Dick could give up on their Alfred-enforced bonding night being siren and police free within the first ten minutes of being there. Steph slid up and snagged Tim.  She’d already trapped Duke, who looked resigned to his fate.  The girls’ eyes met and Dick was really glad he was excluded from whatever they had planned. Plausible deniability and all. 

“We’re going on that,” Steph said, and they all turned to look at the towering ride she pointed to in the center of the fair. It was plummeting to the ground while spinning manically. That was good. They couldn’t get into too much trouble on that. Cass winked at Dick and they faded into the crowd.

The shifting neon lights of the fair made it hard to track their progress, but Dick was pretty sure they were headed in the correct direction.

“Tt, fine.” Damian sighed, just so Dick would know what a sacrifice he was making for him. Dick bit back a smile. “I will accompany you to ensure you are not too scared.”

“Thank you, Dami!” Dick flung his arms around him, then bounced back to tug him to the entrance before Damian could change his mind. 

The loudspeakers were blaring shrieks and moans, and Dick sighed. There was no subtly anymore. Not that he should have gotten his hopes up for the Gotham fair.

There was no line, and they headed to the faux wooden doors, which opened with a bloodcurdling (or at least eardrum-shattering) screech. The space beyond was pitch black, and Dick bounced a little on his toes. Maybe this was going to be good.

They stepped inside, and the door slammed shut behind them. Damian whirled, and Dick reached back to rest a hand on his forearm. He felt the tension soften in Damian, and he shuffled back to Dick’s side. They waited a moment while their eyes adjusted, then Dick briefly tightened his grip before letting go.

“Ready?”

“Of course,” Damian said, but the scorn in it was a bit wavery as his hand slipped into Dick’s. “So you don’t get scared,” he said. Dick grinned at him.

They hadn’t even taken a step when a blur leaped out at them, screaming. Dick barely managed to snatch a knife out of the air before it hit the hapless zombie, sighing mentally. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all. He should take Steph next time. 

The zombie blinked, but they light was too poor for them to be sure they’d seen anything. Dick pulled Damian along.

“Oh!” Damian said, “this is a training exercise to practice keeping a level head and being aware of your surroundings..”

“Erm, well, it’s supposed to be fun.”

“Training is fun.”

Dick sighed out loud. A display light up next to them, and Damian jumped a little but recovered. He waved at the collected actors on display, and Dick laughed. The faux-bloodsoaked scene was full of very baffled looking vampires. Dick waved too.

That did not clear up their expressions. Damian tugged him forward. The music was quiet now, but building, designed to keep one on edge. A person dressed in a misshapen fur costume sprang at them, just as a witch laughed somewhere to their right.

“Hello,” Damian said gave a little bow. “Are you a werewolf?”

The actor gaped at him, looking to Dick for assistance. He gave a grave nod, which didn’t seem to clear up the man’s troubles.

“Er... yes?”

“I thought that might be the case,” Damian said. Then he moved on. Dick didn’t bother to hide the laughter this time, and Damian’s lips curled up ever so slightly.

“I’ve got the next one,” Dick said, and Damian squeezed his hand in acknowledgement. It was difficult to place the next location over the din of the music and screams, except for the fact that the last few had all been where the shadows were deepest. They strode to the next jumpscare and when the lights flickered on to show a very bloody sacrifice scene, Dick extracted his hand to give them a polite golf clap. Damian instantly joined in to baffled silence. The supposedly dead woman sat up, looking at them blankly.

A scuff of a boot let Dick know they were being snuck up on, but before he could do anything about it or warn Damian, Damian turned around.

And screamed, holding yet another knife neither Dick nor Alfred had managed to confiscate before they left. The poor ghost stumbled back, tripping on their own feet. Dick caught them before they could fall, and they scampered off.

Damian shrugged when he looked at him. “That was for Todd.”

“He would be so proud,” Dick said and took Damian’s hand once again after he’d replaced the knife. “And so am I. What say you to giving these ghouls something to really be scared of?”

Damian grinned. “So Todd was right about the purpose of haunted houses.”

“Shhh, it’s a secret.”

By the time they’d made it to the exit, the house was ringing with real screams instead of the fake ones, and they stepped outside with big grins on their faces. 

Damian cleared his throat, but let Dick keep hold of his hand as they rejoined the crowd. 

“That was...adequate.” Dick resisted ruffling Damian’s hair with his one free hand and settled for a nudge.

“I liked it too, baby bat.” Dick stood on his tiptoes to scan the crowd, and Damian stiffened beside him. Dick knew without looking that he’d be looking for any threat. “Now let’s find some cotton candy and then the others before they get arrested again.”

“If we must.”

Sirens started blaring in the distance as they were paying, and Dick sighed.

  
  



End file.
